Um...what?
We are just about to finish up our current series Speak, where we’ve been looking at how God communicates with us today and discovering that the truest and clearest voice of God comes through his Word.
Standing for God’s Word is one of our values at Mt Olive, so not only do we base everything we do on what God says to us in it, but we also encourage you to read those words from God for yourself.
But let’s be real; this feels like a mountainous task. Where do you start with a book as big as the Bible? And how do you decipher what you read when you do open it up? I googled “difficult Bible verses” and there were a bundle:
Jesus gets mad at a tree (Mark 11) - What does that mean?
Ruth uncovers Boaz’s feet and somehow he interprets it as a marriage proposal (Ruth 3) - What am I missing here?
A donkey speaks to Balaam (Numbers 22) - Um...what? What do we do with that?
I get it; there are many confusing things that are part of God’s prophetic collection, so even as we complete our Speak series, it’s important we continue to explore how to open the Bible for the sake of personal growth - because that’s where the power of God is!
We like to consider these six questions while reading passages from the Bible:
What stuck out to you this time through?
Did these verses raise any questions as you read?
Where do you see Jesus Christ in these verses?
What is something that the Spirit of God is leading you to do as a result of reading this text?
Who is someone who might benefit from hearing what you’ve seen in the Bible?
Why are these verses in the Bible?
We’ll look at each of these in the coming weeks’ notes.
Today, the first question:
What stuck out to you this time through?
Yesterday, I was a part of a small group studying Joshua 6. This is the Old Testament text that describes how the Israelites began their conquest of the Promised Land. Here is the passage we read:
Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. // Joshua 6:1-4
There are two things that stuck out to our leader as he presented these verses to us:
God purposely used the verb “I have delivered.” This is a past tense verb. Even though the walls of Jericho would not fall down for another seven days, God says that on this very first day, the city was already delivered into the Israelite’s hands. How many tasks in my life are already finished and complete in God’s sight and I miss that he has arranged them and delivered them already so that I can enjoy the satisfaction of completing them? God purposely invested the Israelites in this work of bringing down the walls of Jericho, but it was not a “soon to be accomplished fact,” it was an absolute, “already accomplished” fact.
Prayer: Lord, let us live our lives accomplishing those things that you have already delivered.
The priests carried their trumpets all six days as they marched around the city. They just marched and carried trumpets, but there was no attempt to tune these instruments, practice on these instruments, or even let a squeak come out of them. They just carried them. So what? The first “so what” is that our leader had never noticed this before - and neither had I. The second “so what” is that much of my life is lived carrying those things that I will eventually use for God’s glory. I can honor him by simply following his directions and then, at the appointed time, I can use the tools or abilities that he has asked me to carry. Honoring God does not come in just using a gift or talent. There are times when I am simply carrying that gift or talent or tool with me until God’s correct timing comes on the scene.
What stuck out to you might be very different from what our leader noticed. That’s OK. The Word of God is living and active. Because it is living and active, it will decipher the needs of your own life and call your attention to something that may be vastly different from what another Christian sees. Make notes about it; tell your small group about it. Ask your pastor or a mentor about it, but don’t ignore it. God’s Word is the most lasting and powerful possession we have here on planet earth. Let’s open it up and explore.
Blessings to you as you open your Bible up today.
Pastor Al